'Copper' returns; 'Crossing Lines' debuts

BBC America's "Copper" returns at 10 p.m. Sunday with an episode that tidily wraps up some plots from season one while setting the stage for new story arcs.

Actor Donal Logue joins the cast as a new boss man for Kevin Corcoran (Tom Weston-Jones). Logue plays Gen. Brendan Donovan, recently returned to New York's Sixth Ward from the Civil War. It's just the latest in a line of tough characters Logue has played, beginning with vengeful Lee Toric on "Sons of Anarchy" and continuing with King Horic on History's "Vikings." (He'll return for both seasons of those shows, now in production.)

"They're all different characters but what's fun about them is they're all fueled by the same power plant," Logue said in a recent phone interview.

"Copper" isn't the only original drama airing a new episode Sunday. NBC's latest import, "Crossing Lines," debuts with a two-hour premiere at 9 p.m. Sunday before moving to its regular 10 p.m. Sunday time slot on June 30th.

Read more after the jump. ...

If you've been hoping for a crime drama set in Europe with police from multiple countries, then "Crossing Lines" is your show.

It's sort of like "Team America: World Police" but without marionettes or humor or much to recommend.

William Fichtner ("Prison Break") stars Carl, as the obligatory American, a former New York Cop, who joins this group of law enforcemet officers in Europe, a controversial offshoot of the International Criminal Court, which is tasked with investigating war crimes and genocide but has evidently decided to branch out.

As often happens in these sorts of crime shows, the premiere begins with the murder of a beautiful woman, followed by the team coming together, back-biting and a bit of self-mockery.

"It's like we're the Justice League of something," Carl says.

"Crossing Lines" is shot mostly in Prague and is executive produced by former "Criminal Minds" executive producer Ed Bernero.

In a recent teleconference with reporters, "Crossing Lines" executive producer Rola Bauer ("The Pillars of the Earth") said the series's goal was to present a crime-busting team in a global world.

"One of the things that is the DNA in the project is that as the title says it crosses lines. We're living in a global world. We're connected by the Internet. We are trying to have certain things that are common to each other through television. Hollywood has been an example of it in that films transcend the boundaries and are released everywhere," Bauer said. "But what we sometimes forget is how we protect our families. And that is what the challenge was about for us. When we started developing the idea and we pitched it to Ed, he loved it because he said for him it reminded him of how America had been when there was not an FBI, when criminals could cross form one state to the other and where essentially there was no sovereign structured entity that could look after people. And from that Edgar Hoover had set up the FBI. And over here in Europe it doesn't exist. So criminals can travel the borders, can cross over without being really monitored or checked anymore. And Europe didn't have anything that was proactive. There's Europol, there's - and there's Interpol but they didn't really have a structure like that. And I think what attracts people is that ultimately these crimes we can see them anywhere in the world. And this is a team that is proactive. You've seen it in different features where there have been teams from different parts of the world who come together and crack the case. And I think that's an international subject that allows an audience to really connect from a fear factor of how do I protect my family in a normal situation."

Join the conversation:

To report inappropriate comments, abuse and/or repeat offenders, please send an email to socialmedia@post-gazette.com and include a link to the article and a copy of the comment. Your report will be reviewed in a timely manner. Thank you.